My bike riding history goes back to my teenage years in the UK riding what we called "scramblers" in the woods, BSA Bantams and Triumph Tiger Cubs that we had fixed up . Next came a Husqvarner 400 closer to a motocross of today. During this time we wore the gear - chest, shoulder, elbow and leg protectors and the best helmets we could borrow. Yep, we fell off a few times but mostly into the mud. My road riding gave me exposure to bigger and faster machines, Norton, Triumph and Honda then finally a ' Guzzi twin. I always wore a full face helmet, leather jacket and gloves and as was the fashion a pair of full riding boots that covered your leg to the knee with my levis tucked in and my Norwegian fisherman's socks turned over the top. I took a spill of this bike avoiding a dog that ran into my path and was glad for the gear as I skidded down Commercial Road in Portsmouth. I emigrated to Canada in '78 at 20 years old and didn't touch a bike for 30 years. I re-started my riding about three years ago with a course from the local college (well worth the money - even for lapsed bikers) then onto a Kawasaki KLR . Right fro the get go I purchased a full face helmet, ballistic nylon coat, gloves ,pants and good set of shin high bike boots. I vowed to always ride ATGATT. I moved up quickly to a Kawasaki Concourse and then to my 2007 Wing. Last year I put 20000km on the 'wing and many of those miles wearing all the gear but switching to 3/4 face "jet" style helmet. This year I bought a shorty and a leather vest for the hot (I know - Canada, we do have them ) days . Boy it sure felt good to feel the wind and freedom of no sleeves. I read most of the posts and felt a little guilty from time to time when stories came up of accidents and Admin and others would push the ATGATT, a couple of months ago I read a post from a guy on a site who reported a high side dismount after hitting a pavement heave he couldn't see and he showed a shot of his FF helmet and the scrape the road put in it (not his face! ) when I saw this I knew it was time to smarten up and go back to the correct way to ride - every time. # weeks ago I bought a 2004 Suzuki V Strom 650 , where I live in Ontario there are many great dirt and gravel roads and just don't want the GL 1800 on them. I needed some hand guards on the bike, bought them this weekend and fitted them yesterday; to do this I had to remove the cutch lever and therefore put I back on and adjust it. Job done in my driveway in shorts t shirt and sandals (26 celcius 80 ish F ) . Test ride time! I remembered all the sage advice from these columns and even for a quick round the block I donned riding pants , jacket , gloves, boots and FULL FACE helmet.
You guessed it - 1 kilometre from my house I was making a simple left turn (checked both ways , signal on , headlight on ) and a driver who should have come to a full stop at the "T" junction as I turned left in font of him didn't stop and hit me solid in the side of my bike. I went over the right side and slid about 10 feet across the asphalt luckily not in the path of other cagers. I think my bike will be written off, my helmet saved my face, my jacket, pants and gloves took some good scrapes, my boots definitely saved my ankle . I'm sore, have a little scrape on my leg and a very stiff ankle. Here's the front of his car :

OUCH!

Here's my helmet:

LID

I watched the road as it passed my face and said thanks to every one of the smart people who advised me well. ATGATT EVERY TIME. Thanks.

A good lesson, well learned! I trust that you have now had your serious collision, and that the only ones left are minor hiccups. I hope you recover quickly, and can enjoy your GW sooner. Thanks for the reminder.

Len in Kapunda

The world is not going to finish today, as it is already tomorrow in Australia and New Zealand, and other islands of foreign nations such as Guam and Samoa.

I crashed in South Africa wearing shorts T-shirt and trainers. Crash was nothing compared to the time in the emergency room of the Hospital that I crashed outside of having the wounds scrubbed. Holy whack!
The nurse took great delight in it!

Rob H wrote:I crashed in South Africa wearing shorts T-shirt and trainers. Crash was nothing compared to the time in the emergency room of the Hospital that I crashed outside of having the wounds scrubbed. Holy whack!
The nurse took great delight in it!